Rewards of Bloody Dragonflies
by Samyo
Summary: Stannis wins the Iron Throne, but his victory is still bittersweet. AU fic. HBO and GRRM own everything.


I stare into the fire. Nothing.

There have been rumors and questionable ravens. They all say the Lannisters and allies have made a grave mistake. Davos is cautious but rational.

"In theory, we have enough men, enough force, to take the city by land…"

"But not enough to keep it in our hands."

Its a cruel temptation, this opportunity that will never happen again.

"If we could somehow make them divert forces to their own coasts…"

"They've drenched it all with Wildfire by now. And we have no ships to spare."

We have no swords to spare. We have no men to spare.

"Taking King's Landing would boost confidence in your cause, Your Grace. More houses would be willing to declare. More houses would give you swords, more swords if they have already."

"Has there been further word from Lord Baelish?"

Cersei's Court consists of hostages, cowards, and traitors.

"No, but I still think he's right about Cersei's intentions if we get near the city in the first place."

The woman is now called the Mad Queen.

"If she wants to raise the city to the ground with Wildfire, we'll let her."

"But the people…"

"The people will know how little Queen Cersei truly cared about them, about how all the Lannisters only care about themselves. I will not lead my men into a death trap. Not again."

There is no way of replacing them.

"We won't have time to secure the city itself. We'll have to go right to the Red Keep."

Davos is worried about the populace turning on us. I'm more worried about losing men to looting.

"She's run it far enough into the ground that they'd see the Nightwalkers as liberators at this point."

"I'll go to Lord Snow then. He has blood in the City after all, even if they say she's a Lannister now."

"Assuming she's still alive."

Amidst the flames, I see smoke and ruin. The Red Keep is in ruins.

"We will have to act quickly, Ser Davos."

"Yes, My King."

There are two women, a hostage and a mad woman. The hostage is tied to a pyre with a knife held to her throat.

The mad woman may be Cersei, or Myrcella, or some other blonde devil in the Court. I cannot see the hostage's face, but it does not matter.

It is my duty to save them, to save all of them.

* * *

Cersei is dragged away. Screaming. Cursing. Gone mad within the cage she and her sins created for themselves.

Joffrey has been long dead. His assassin never confirmed, though I have my suspicions.

Myrcella might as well be dead, might already be dead. May it sate the Martell's thirst for vengeance slightly .

Tommen, the boy they see as King, the boy I thought I saw bits of my father in, is safe in High Garden.

Lord Tywin is dead.

Tyrion is supposedly still alive in the overflowing dungeons. Surprised Cersei left their culling for the last.

I stand before an empty throne and I can still hear their screaming. I can smell their blood which now coats the walls and floors.

The Red Keep is called red for more reasons than one now.

I am standing before an empty throne, a throne I was never suppose to inherit. My hand was forced by my duty to you, Robert. I did it for Mother, for Father, for all of us.

I went against our King, Robert.

I went against our own kin, Robert.

I am standing before an empty throne, my armor drenched in blood. My victory will still be considered a failure compared to all your great victories.

You ousted the Mad King because of a woman who didn't love you, who would never love you.

That could have been our father who was boiled in his armor. And our mother...

"Its yours now, My King."

I've risked so much, lost so much for this moment I never even wanted. But wants were never part of this game, at least, not for me.

On the ground, there is a necklace with a broken chain. A dragonfly charm.

In my gloved hands, I can see the dried blood on the wings.

"I was too late again, Lord Davos."

I know this belonged to the woman I saw in the flames. The one I was suppose to save from Cersei.

"Your Grace?"

I fall to my knees. Exhausted.

"Stannis!"

This war is not yet over and I feel like I have nothing else left to give. Its making it hard to breath.

* * *

Rain is falling on my face. The dawn has barely broken.

We're in the Courtyard. I look up to where Queen Cersei used to watch her children from above while she plotted behind my brother's back. All I see are charred remains of what used to be the Royal apartments.

The flowers are untouched. Still the same as when my father took me and Robert by the hand, walking behind the man that became known to us later as the Mad King. Back then, he was just the King.

He was our father's cousin.

He was family.

The rain washes the mud and blood off of my armor, off all of our armor. Lord Davos is sitting up against a fountain and nods to me.

"Your Grace."

That was the fountain Renly almost fell in once when he tried to balance on its edge.

"Where's Cersei?"

"Up in the Apartments. What's left of them, anyway. There's a danger of it caving in on her, but I told the men to take precautions when it came to their own safety, of course."

"How many innocents are dead?" There's no use pretending anymore.

"More would have died if we hadn't of bothered to come at all."

There will never be enough rain to wash their blood from my hands. I am still clutching the bloodied dragonfly.

"If we took King's Landing the first time they wouldn't have needed to die at all."

Davos stays silent.

The rain feels good, like an ocean spray.

"I'm afraid, My King, that I'm starting to get too old for these excursions."

My chest hurts when I laugh, for it has been too long. Far too long.


End file.
